Flashbacks
by Elisabeth Shannon
Summary: Ever wonder about Liz and Jim's decision to have Zoe and how they pulled it off? Well this is my interpretation of what happened. If you loved it let me know if you hated it please keep it to yourself. :-) Cheers! and Please Enjoy
1. Chapter 1

_**Chicago. January, 2143.**_

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Elisabeth and Jim were lying in bed, talking in hushed whispers while their kids; Maddy and Josh peacefully slept below them on the bottom floor of their cramped studio loft they rented with their two children Josh and Maddy.

She had her head rested on his right shoulder as she had her body curved against his side. He laid on his back and with his right hand idly traced circles on her bare shoulder. They spent these late hours of the night talking about their day at work in more detail and what was going on with the children. When those topics were exhausted they'd talk about their future, what they dreamed of for their children. They discussed what was attainable and when they broach a goal or dream that wasn't attainable it was dropped and never discussed again.

But tonight was different as Elisabeth needed to discuss an off limits topic and she was waiting for the moment to bring it up. She had confirmed news she had been suspecting for a couple of months and knew he would not be happy.

"-The guy was completely off his face, had no idea what he was doing" Jim said shaking his head as he was telling her about his day.

"I'm pregnant" she blurted. She felt Jim tense beneath her and she rose up onto her elbows so she was looking down at him. "and we're keeping it" she added nervously as she expected him to blow up at her. He wore a stunned expression as he looked at her and didn't say anything for what felt like an eternity but was really one minute.

"What?! How-" he started but she cut him off.

"I think you know how and before you ask how long I've know. I only found out today. I wasn't sure as I feel fine. I don't feel pregnant except I've missed a couple of monthly's but you know we've been busy and stress affects me as you know" she said babbling nervously.

"But Liz, we take precautions" He said as he couldn't understand how she was pregnant. They were incredibly careful. Elisabeth took a fortifying breath as she knew she would need patience for this conversation.

"Nothing is 100% fool proof except for being sterilised and I remember you opting out of that one" She told him. Jim's lips curved into a sardonic smile.

"Well you could of-" he stopped as she gave him an affronted look "I'm just saying what's good for the goose is good for the gander and anyway it's off topic. We can't have another kid. It's illegal and I'm a cop, I'm supposed to uphold the law. Do you know what it would do to my reputation-"

"Do you want more children?" she asked, she had asked the question before and he said two kids max but then he was an officer of the Law so he was supposed to uphold the law. Having a third child and being caught would end his career and ruin his reputation, she knew she was asking a lot but she couldn't let go of this and as guilty as she felt she didn't get pregnant on her own or on purpose.

"Of course in the perfect world I'd want as many as you'd be willing to give me but we're not and the law caps families at two kids" Jim told her and he meant every word but the law stated two so he had long ago settled and was happy with just two kids. Relief washed through her at the knowledge as she always wanted a large family but that was a conversation that would never be broached between them.

"I know" She said as she despised a law that didn't control population growth it only punished those who wanted more than two children.

"Yet you're willing to break the law" Jim said, she didn't blame him for being so negative as he didn't know the whole truth. He was thinking she only found out she was a few weeks pregnant when the reality was that she was more progressed than than and while she abhorred abortion it was a way of life in 2143. If you had two children any couple who conceived a child after that would opt for it to be terminated as they couldn't afford a third child or the punishment that came with carrying a third child to the twelve week mark and pass it.

"It's our child" She said, she pulled his hand to her lower abdomen and laid it flat over where their unborn child was slowly growing. Her abdomen was still supple and showing no signs of a baby but it would show and soon "Are you really telling me to end a life because of some ridiculous law?" she asked him with imploring eyes. Jim looked at her with sympathy as she knew how she felt about children but she was asking a lot of and from him.

"Liz, be rational. Think about this long term, how are we going to make this work?" he asked her, he needed her to see both sides of what their life would be like. The good and the bad.

"I have a Colleague, he's doctor who's well versed in Obstetrics. He lives in this state but far away from the city. We could move out there for the last few months of the pregnancy. The rent is incredibly cheap-"

"Probably cause the crime rates are higher and transport costs chews up-"

"Let me finish" Elisabeth said to him, now annoyed as he was just seeing the inconveniences and not the benefits.

"Ok" He said calmly.

"The rent is cheaper, and I could home school the kids and we'll save money. My friend, he will help us deliver our baby and do all the check ups-"

"Sounds like you've talked to this guy" Jim said, he said it in his 'cop' tone where he wanted to know every detail but until he was in agreement with her she wasn't going to tell him who as she couldn't trust that he would keep the information to himself as her friend operated under the radar helping people who couldn't afford medical services or couldn't be afford to be seen by the law because of their citizenship status.

"I had to. I needed to confirm I was pregnant, and I could trust him not to rat me out to population control. He's helped many other couples who have wanted to have a third child" Elisabeth said in an exasperated tone. It had been a long day travelling to Cooke County and back.

"Great, a doctor who is helping other people flout the law" Jim scoffed in disbelief as he spent so long in the system, abiding by the law and upholding it. While he did sometimes turn a blind eye to some of the things he saw and helped people out when they were in trouble instead of locking them up for minor offences. But he never blatantly or deliberately broke the rules and what Elisabeth wanted to do was breaking a major law.

"Jim" She said with as much patience as she could muster. She knew he wasn't enamoured but once he saw the sonogram and heard the heartbeat he'd melt with love and be right on board with her about having a third child. She knew it in her bones that they could do it, they could have this child.

"Sorry, continue" he said waving a hand for her to continue.

"I know it won't be easy-"

"There's an understatement" he said, she glared at him "Hey think about it." he told her.

"I have" she said.

"Really? How are we going to hide this third child of ours when Population Control come through on one of their random checks? You want we should hide her in the air vent? Or maybe a cupboard?" he asked her.

"We may have to" she told him. He covered his eyes with a hand as he found it unbelievable that she would consider sticking their child in an air vent. Sadly he had seen it before when he did a rotation in Population Control as a rookie cop. He hated families being pulled apart but it was the law. But instead of dwelling on that scenario, he moved onto the next problem they would face.

"Ok and say we don't get caught and she or he grows up we can't send him or her to school they can't go to university what kind of life-"

"We can get a fake ID" she said cutting him off again.

"Breaking even more laws" He said in disbelief as they were good people, he was a good man but even this was stretching him. Elisabeth's lips thinned as she realised it was time to pull out the big guns. She had hoped he would be rational but that was out as he wasn't going to be swayed with words.

So she got up from the bed and went to her bag pulling out the data chip and picked up her plex by the wall. She turned it on and plugged in the chip and opened the video file of the 3D sonogram she had gotten from her visit.

The room glowed as the video played a crystal clear image of a small being, a baby with arms and legs. Stretching and flexing and rolling around, below the picture was two bars indicating the baby's vitals.

"He or she is 12 weeks and one day old tell me that he or she is not worth giving a chance at life" Elisabeth told him as she knelt back down on the bed and held the plex in front of her as she moved to straddle him. "Tell me how I have to give up something I love as much as I love you and our children because we are breaking a stupid law" She said to him as tears welled in her eyes.

Jim looked at the video playing of a tiny life that was half of him and Elisabeth and then up to the woman he loved. He saw the tears in her eyes, he had thought if she was pregnant it was only a few weeks not that it made the decision any easier but the video showed the reality of that life. A life he couldn't ignore and it made the conversation incredibly real. To him there was always an argument of how a tiny embryo could be terminated because it wasn't fully formed or really human. One could give a logical argue that it wasn't alive and thus making an incredibly hard decision easier to swallow when made. But this image was of a child. A very small human child. Their child. Raw emotions moved through him as he was completely torn between love and the pain of not knowing how to protect his wife and their children from danger. All three of their children.

"Oh Liz" he said heartbrokenly as he hated seeing her so distressed and because he could never ask her to give up their child. He also knew he would have to reconcile with what their future held but he couldn't deny that a part of him swelled with love, pride and happiness. Another child was nestled and growing within his wife.

"I can apply for Terra Nova project. You know they are always recruiting. If that doesn't work there will be the lotto. We might win-" She started in a hopeful tone still trying to sway him to want their child not knowing that he was with her all the way.

"And if we do? How are we going to get him or her through?" he asked her, getting recruited to Terra Nova Project was near impossible and the Lottery odds were even worse.

"I don't know but we'll find a way like we always do." Elisabeth told him. She bit her bottom lip nervously as Jim had on his poker face and she couldn't tell what he was thinking.

He took a deep breath and looked between the plex and her for a long moment before he took the plex from her hands to look at the sonogram. He touched the screen and nodded as he turned it off. The room darkened and he placed the plex on his side table. He looked to Elisabeth in the dark and ran his hands slowly up and down her legs, massaging her thighs.

"Ok" he said. Elisabeth blinked in surprise as she was expecting him to give her a long winded speech about how they couldn't do it.

"Really?" she asked him, as she leaned over him and smiled as hope swelled in her.

"Yeah" he said as he slid his hands slowly up her body before he reached her neck and gently pulled her face close to his and kissed her. Elisabeth sunk into the pleasure of his kiss before pulling breaking the kiss.

"You're not placating me?" Elisabeth asked him.

"No" he said with a smile and light chuckle as only she would question him.

"You really want this?" she asked as she needed to be sure that he knew what he was agreeing.

"Yes, I do. I love you and like I said I'll love and have any all children you give me. We'll make this work" He told her. He kissed her passionately and rolled her under him so he was on top.

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The End? Or would you like more?


	2. Chapter 2

**Chicago January 2143**

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Three days later, 3am.

Jim stuck his hands in his pockets and hood pulled over his head and his rebreather on as he walked down the street. He kept his head down as he didn't want to be noticed. It wasn't that the neighbourhood was questionable but the person he was seeing was, which was why he didn't want to be noticed. He didn't need people to know he who he was seeing or remember his affiliation to that person. But three days after Liz had told him that they were expecting their third child he knew he needed help and he could only think of one person who could help them.

He reached a hole in the wall bar and slid the door open. Cold air blasted at him as he passed over the threshold into the bar. The sliding door automatically closed behind him and Jim pulled his hood back and lifted his re-breather off his face taking a slow and easy breath. The air inside the bar tasted crisp and clean, it made him think he probably needed to change the filter on his rebreather. He looked around the room noting the bar was empty bar two people and himself. He took in the old 20th century style chic of the bar as there was a long mahogany bar to the left lined with stools and to the right the wall was lined with booths made to seat four people.

The back wall of the bar was lined with liquor and beer taps and the two people who were the standing at the bar stopped talking and looked at him. One was a tall and muscular man with a bald head and tattoos wearing a white collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and black waist coat on top and dark denims. The other person was a tall and slender woman in her late twenties with shaggy styled chin length brunette bob, she wore a grey scoop neck t-shirt and black skinny jeans with ankle zips and sip pocket details with black baggy mid calf boots.

She gave a quirk of the lips and smacked her buddy in the arm "Take off for the night, I can finish the books tomorrow" She told him. The bald man nodded and walked past Jim giving him a dark look as Jim stepped out the way. The man left the bar and Jim looked back at the woman, his younger sister Zoe Shannon.

"So Brother of mine, what brings you to my neck of the woods at this hour of the morning?" She asked as she got up on a stool and then stepped over and into the bar area in a graceful manner that reminded him of the leopards he had watched on his plex with Maddy who was currently going through a 'David Attenborough' phase thanks to her school teacher talking about Planet Earth it in it's early 20th Century days.

"Can't I just come see how you are?" he asked as she poured out two cups of what smelt like coffee. She raised her eyebrows for a second in disbelief and he didn't blame her as he had turned his back on her and his father over 15 years ago when his father wanted to initiate him into the family business and a way of life Jim had no interest in as he wanted to be a cop. To be a better man than his father had been. So when Jim joined the force, his father disowned him and denied any affiliation to him. Told people that his son was 'Dead'.

Jim hadn't cared about that loss but he did regret losing the close relationship he once had with his sister. They had kept in contact but it was a strained relationship at best as she was caught between keeping their Father's approval and trying to be a sister to him and living up to his standards. At the end of the day Jim lost her to their father as she couldn't understand or at the time didn't want to understand that she could live like Jim, following the law and being a 'good' citizen especially since everybody in life around her were corrupt and well fed for it in comparison to Jim who had been struggling and working hard to make a name for himself and not be known as Jack Shannon's son.

Also Zoe had always vied for their father's approval so when he showered her with the attention she always wanted she had stepped up and initiated into the family business starting her life in organised crime. She had proved herself and even served a little time in a federal prison and became their father's lieutenant before his demise. Now that she was in charge and in the short years she had been running the family business she had managed to turn most of it into a legitimate business enterprise. She had also called him up to resuscitate their relationship, asking his forgiveness for what happened between them. He of course forgave her and they started to rebuild what they had lost. It hadn't been easy as they were still on opposite sides of the law and held strong opinions but they were family. So they did their best and in the rare times she visited she always came with gifts and never told Jim anything about her shady deals as she didn't want him to be put in a position where he might have to report her to the police. So there was always a distance in their relationship as if they were protecting each other by keeping one another at arm's length.

"Alive" she told him in a dry manner as she replaced the coffee pot to its place behind the bar and then returned herself to the customer side of the bar. She moved to the door and locked it before going back to the bar. She picked up the coffee cups and gestured for him to take a seat in the booth. Jim moved into the booth.

"Some battery acid since I know you got a long day ahead of you since you won't get any sleep before you get home and change for work" She said as she placed the coffee down on the table and slid into the side opposite him. She pulled her knees up and slouched against the wall as she sat sideways in the booth seat.

"I appreciate that" he said as he looked at her, noting the familial similiarities of same pale skin, dark hair and tall frames but that's where it ended as Zoe took after their mother with a slender long nose, oval face, green eyes and bow lips that pursed in boredom as she gave him a 'what are you doing here?' look. He didn't blame her if she wasn't suspicious; he had a record for not taking bribes and kickbacks from the darker element of society and a record for putting criminals away by befriending them.

"So how's the family? You get that Pineapple I sent you for New Years?" Zoe asked, not asking the question she wanted to as she knew her brother was a good and honest cop. She was proud of him for following his dreams as it couldn't have been easy being a policeman related to a criminal family. Even if said family disowned you and she also didn't want to put him into a tight spot just because she had a less than stellar record with the law.

"Yeah, thanks for that and the family is good, it's why I'm here. I need your help-" he took a sip of coffee and made a face as it didn't taste even remotely like coffee "ah how is this coffee?" he asked her as he placed the cup on the table. She made a derisive noise.

"You're so precious" she told him with a roll of her eyes and shook her head at him in disappointment before she pointed at him and said "for the record I didn't say it was coffee. No one has seen real coffee in over a year though I heard rumours there's a crop out there"

"Probably an urban myth" he told her.

"Yeah, so what do you want as I know you're not here to play catch ups as it's nearly 3am. Hell, you never come this way. We always speak on the comm.'s. So what gives?" She asked as she slouched further into her side of the booth and pulled out a cigarette case. She opened it and took out a cigarette and lit it taking a puff. Jim shot her a look of censure.

"What? The world is dying and it's my pub. I pay for the air filters which means I'm entitled to enjoy my vices" She told him as she took another inhale and exhaled the smoke over her head so it technically wasn't in his face but he still found it offensive.

"Why don't you go outside without a rebreather, it's just as stupid. You'll end up with Lung cancer or Plural sarcoma" Jim told her. Zoe gave him a mocking smile before she took a sip of her coffee.

"Jimmy, we all gotta die from something and I'm just making an active decision in how I die. So what do you need?" she asked him, Jim looked at her and felt uneasy in making his request but he didn't trust anyone else with what he was asking.

"I need full and continuous access to the PCO mainframe" he said in a low voice. Zoe sat up in her side of the booth swung her feet under the table so she was facing him head on. She wondered why he would need full access to Population Control offices mainframe.

"That's an interesting request and who says I can manage that?" She asked wishing she had checked him for transmitters because what he was asking equalled 15-25 year prison sentence. Assuming you were caught and couldn't afford to buy out the jury.

"Mags, you know I turn a blind eye to your less than savoury past-" he started to say but Zoe cut him off.

"Hey, I've cleaned up alot since those days. I may not be squeaky clean but this place is clean and legit" she said in a defensive manner. So she did some shady deals, did a little money laundering, fraud and traded on the black market. Sure she was a criminal but even she drew a line in her activities, she wasn't entirely like their father but she did inherit some of his darker qualities.

"You know what I'm talking about because Pineapples aren't exactly being handed out at the food centre" he told her. She took another puff of her cigarette and looked at him incredulously.

"It was a gift from a friend that I re-gifted to you. Look at me, like I could put away a whole pineapple before it rotted?" She asked gesturing to her skinny frame.

"Ok, can we not argue and could you not play dumb because I need you to help me and you're the only person I trust." He said with an imploring look.

"Me?" she asked.

"We're family and you said if I ever really needed something you'd help me" he implored as he knew it meant a lot to her as she prescribed to that sentimentality. She pulled her cigarette out of her mouth and held it between her fingers and gave a nod of reluctant acceptance.

"Why do you need access to the PCO mainframe?" She asked.

"Liz is pregnant" he said in such a low voice she almost thought she hadn't heard him right.

"Seriously? A third kid? No, tell me you're not that stupid" She told him, Jim looked down at the table and Zoe took another drag of her cigarette and cursed as she exhaled the smoke. "You can understand being stupid. It's a trait you inherited from Dad but Liz?" she asked she gave a smile of incredulous disbelief as she had thought the woman with all her degrees and an M.D. would know better than to get knocked up a third time. Jim took her smile as an offence.

"Hey do you mind? We didn't plan it but it's going to happen and I need your help. You have connections, you know people" he said in a pleading tone.

"How far along is she?" Zoe asked.

"3 months and no we're not terminating the baby. So don't bother to argue that as it's a moot point and you don't get to have a say about it" he told her, Zoe raised her eyebrows at him and he could tell she was surprised and disappointed in him which annoyed him as she was the criminal but then he was joining her ranks and becoming a hypocrite about how one should live their life.

"You know that you're going to need more than just access to PCO Mainframe" She told him.

"Yeah, we're going to need forged Birth Certificate, Identity card, medical-" he started as he had been making the list in his head for the last 12 hours and adding up the costs. Knowing immediately he and liz's combined income would never be able to cover it but they had to try.

"Yeah and that means you'll need money. A lot of it. As well as my connections. Last time I checked you're on a cop salary and she's on government wage. It may be enough to get buy but it won't get you what you need considering you too are so high and mighty about taking kickbacks" She pointed out. Jim felt his frustration grow at his sister as he didn't need her berating him or pointing out the many problems he and Liz were facing. He took a calm breath and nodded.

"I know, it's a mess and I don't know what we're going to do but we'll make it work and I know I'm asking a lot of you but I- we need your help for all of it" he told her.

"I know and you'll owe me" She told him.

"I know, just let me know how much-" he started to say but she laughed at him and shook her head at him.

"No, I don't want money and frankly even if I put you on a payment system you'd never be able to pay me off. So we're going to work on trade system. Your and your misses will do me favours" she told him, as she down the rest of her coffee and snubbed her cigarette in the empty cup.

"Zee" he said in a warning tone. He didn't know exactly what Zoe was into these days and while yes he knew having a third child was breaking the law he also didn't want to be a tipping point for him either. He still wanted to maintain some of his dignity and intergrity if he could.

"No, don't 'Zee' me. I'm putting my ass on the line for you. The least you and Liz can do for me is a few favours" She told him in a casual manner.

"What kind of favours?" he asked.

"Don't worry it won't be anything that weighs heavily on your conscious at night" She told him with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Somehow I don't believe you" he said to her, she gave him smile that made him feel like he had just signed a deal with the devil and he just hoped it was was all worth it.

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**TBC-**_Yes I have decided to continue... but it may be a couple of weeks before I update so please click the follow button! or review :-) and Thank you for reading!_


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